Educational Inequality in the Aftermath of No Child Left Behind

Under No Child Left Behind, efforts to reduce educational inequality have focused on raising standards and holding educators accountable for whether students meet their targets. This aim has now been reinforced by new federal programs that give states incentives to evaluate teachers according to the test scores of their students. At the same time, the federal government is encouraging states to use more meaningful measures of student performance, emphasize growth in performance rather than relying on one or two test scores at a single point in time, and radically transform their least-successful schools. In this Academy Evening talk, Adam Gamoran, professor of sociology and educational policy studies in UW–Madison's School of Education and director of the Wisconsin Center on Education Research shares recent recommendations and reflects on whether new reform efforts will help reduce achievement gaps. Recorded on March 29, 2011, in the MMoCA Lecture Hall at Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, WI.